All those things could pause for now. Ahh, it would be nice to see my beloved Sophia again, he thought as he headed to the airport and booked a flight.
Three days later.
Impersonating a student wasn't hard. The principal was a man, his wife a woman, and let's just say his little brother had already held a private conversation with her — which made things even easier. She had whispered a few words to her husband about letting Thandor join the school, and not long after, everything was arranged perfectly. He was a student here, free to come and go as he pleased, and he didn't even have to pay school fees. "Hahaha," he laughed to himself, amused by how effortlessly life seemed to bend in his favor.
Today was the school tour to the royal palace — the place where he would finally see his beloved Sophia again. The bus came to a halt, and as he stepped down, a nauseating feeling struck him. How long has it been…?
"Okay, students, form a line and make sure you don't do anything stupid in the palace," a blonde female instructor announced.
"Thandor, come here!" she called out.
Thandor — that was Carl's new name. He didn't know why, but he preferred no one to know who he truly was. As for the woman calling him — well, he had spent last night with her, leaving quite a deep impression in her mind.
"Thandor will be the leader of this tour," she declared firmly. "If I'm not around, you'll follow his orders. And even if I am around and he gives orders — you'll still follow them."
Murmurs spread among the students, shocked by her decision. Her eyes turned icy cold. "Any objections?"
Silence fell. No one dared to speak.
"Good. Now you may enter the palace."
They entered, and the first thing they saw was a strikingly beautiful young woman looking in their direction with cold, distant eyes. Beside her stood another — more mature, yet with the same expression. Different reactions spread among the students, but the man at the back froze.
"Sophia…" he whispered.
Having lived thousands of years, Thandor could easily read a person's mood. Sophia looked sad. He remembered her mentioning someone close to her dying, but now that he was seeing her again, something gnawed at his chest.
The second woman looked eerily familiar — too familiar. She resembled Queen Elizabeth. His gaze swept the hall — counting the princesses. But something was off. They were incomplete.
A wave of unease hit him. When he created the time machine, he had wondered if his reappearance might change the world — shift events, alter destinies.
Now the answer stood before him.
What if the person Sophia mentioned hadn't died… but someone else had?
That alone wouldn't have been an issue. But the person who did die was Princess Olivia — Sophia's closest companion.
The realization struck him like a bolt of lightning.
Fate itself answered his question — not with words, but with cruel irony.
"Hi, I'm Yvonne, and that's my little sister, Sophia. We'll be your guides," the older woman said politely.
Something clicked in Thandor's mind like thunder.
I… I… I… I CHANGED FATE!!!!